This year we travelled with 4 cars to the International rally in Exmouth. I had already drawn up a planning, however we deviated somewhat from the original plan. We anticipated that Enfield would be cancelled, so we stayed at the Rally in Exmouth.
On the way to Exmouth we planned a stop because of the lengthy drive. On the way to the first campsite we stopped in Swindon to visit the STEAM museum.
Once there stood a grand factory at the site of the museum. It included almost everything you would find in a small town, they built their own tools and they also had their own fire department.
This was a very nice mock-up of a metal shop
An old swing crane
The Cheltenham flier, in its day the fastest train
We were able to walk straight under the locomotive which was an impressive sight.
By walking underneath the train we where able to see the craftsmanship of the workers
The bearings where a lot bigger than on the Austin
A good view of the tender, these used to carry a lot of coal
The open Cab, no comfortable seat here...
I guess the wheels had to be this big
Lovely building as well, they had restored it to it's former glory and we could hear the rain pouring down the huge rain pipes. Luckily we where inside
They had a good collection of various locomotives, there was even a "simulator" here you could practice driving of in one of these beasts.
They had some fun collections on the side, besides lanterns there was also a corner where old vending and entertainment machines could be tried.
Here you can see that they even built a small station inside.
Complicated, we where wondering what the coil above the driver did...
All polished up
Cab
At one time they even placed there wagons in the country where they were used as holiday homes
The great western railway used slogans as "the Cornish Riviera" to attract people that where looking for a sunny holiday destination.
A nice little travel pick-nick set
The next stop before we put up camp was Avebury, because of the rain we where all a bit disappointed.
Avebury stone circle, I had been here as a small child, I could vaguely remember the cicle and village
As you can see, we came prepared
Selfie with another person, is that still a selfie?
Harry Incognito
You can tell they take great care, newly planted grass. In contrast to Stonehenge you can actually walk up to the stones, they are massive.
Danny walking among the prehistoric stones. Hard to imagine that they moved them here without even steam power.
panorama, nice
There where some tree's where the branch of the one tree had grown into the other, friends for life. If only our Arborist Nico had been there, he would have been able to tell us what model and make tree these where. I only know cars..
On arrival at the rally site we went for a walk after we had set up camp.
We where treated to some magnificent skies.
The river Exe had retreated, so we were able to walk on the riverbed. Hope the tide does not come rushing in.
Danny, don't look so surprised!
Ok, maybe the surprised look that Danny had was better than this ;-)
And we joined them on the riverbed, still hoping that the tide did not come raging up the river.
This is a joke for the Dutch people, we also took the little A30 for a drive through Dartmore it deserved a pat on the back because it held out so tremendously carrying Danny and myself over all those narrow roads. Although the 5 year old Ford mondeo did not have any problems transporting 4 blokes. It did not benefit from its width on those small roads.
On Sunday the day started out dry but grey, after I had parked the car in the line-up I had to admire all the other cars, we counted 115 cars in total.
looking over to the modified class,
On this panoramic view, it's clear to see that it was not allowed to walk or drive on the field.
behind the modified class, Austin A30 A35, are renown for their beautiful rear section. It's either that, or the photographer was lazy.
This Austin was hugely modified, I wonder how it drives.
Look at that air intake! Still there is a lot standard...
Again the Commercials, I was standing next to Henk Keulemans, so I figured this shot must be worth taking
If I am not mistaken, these where the A30 saloons
old, period tent! Nice!
The A35's where parked on the other side of the field there where a lot of nice cars
A good overview of the complete field, It was nice that it stayed dry the whole day.
Hans still had some panels left, it was nice to see that his hard work paid off and that he had so little panels to take home. I always relay the comments on the Forum to him when I visit his workshop, it is always good to hear good things about something you have made.
I brought my little Optimus for the second year. Always nice to brew up some coffee and explain how a kerosene burner works.
As the day progressed, the sun started to show itself a bit more
At the end of the day we decided to go for a drive along the Jurassic coast. We stopped at a town called Beer, I cannot remember why we decided to stop here, but the town turned out to be really nice.
Beer looked very picturesque with the clear blue skies.
Loving the panorama feature of my iphone;-)
You can see I was not the only one taking pictures of the surroundings
We don't see any boats winced out of the water in Holland
If we ever need an album cover, I know this would be a good contender.
I can imagine that a stay in one of these beach cabins can be quite attractive
Another photo of the surroundings at beer
Beer, looking good
Photographing into the light can produce a nice effect.
A lot of water was pouring down the roads, naturally we tried to dam the flow.
Anybody fancy a mackerel trip? Maybe next year.
The water flowing alongside the road
When the light from the gas lamp started fading it became challenging to cut the sausage.
On the last day we drove back to Harwich, the plan was to visit the Kew bridge steam museum, only when we arrived there at 3, we where told that the museum closed at 4 'o clock...
The man behind the counter let us take a peak around the corner so we only saw these steam engines.
Beam engine, but the one in the main building is supposed to be far more impressive
There where a lot of steam engines in this room. Here is another beam engine
This small engine stood next to the exit, the sign said that dispite it's size it was very important. Lot's of these small engines where used to power wells for separate company's and hospital. But not that many survive today.
A very impressive smoke stack, the steam engine was once used for sewage, and the land around the building used to be filter ponds. Nowadays London has expanded around the old sewage pump station.
Maybe we will ride the little steam train next time we get here, better make sure I am on time.
The little diesel locomotive at the back of the train.. wonder what they use it for.
We closed off with a nice English dinner at the end of the trip. I had the steak and kidney pie.
Of course I also had some fish and chips during the trip. Now we go back to the healthy food back home ;-)
Usually our last stop, "the Cross inn", so long and thanks for all the pie. I really enjoyed my trip to the International Rally in Devon, I hope you enjoyed my pictures. We will try to make it again next year, keep driving those Austin's!
